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TED Talks Daily

TED Talks Daily

TED 2718 Episodes Sep 30, 2026

TED Talks Daily delivers the latest TED and TEDx talks in audio format every weekday. Covering a vast range of topics from Artificial Intelligence to Zoology, the podcast features thought-provoking ideas from the world's leading thinkers and doers. It is a convenient way to stay inspired and informed on the go.

Episodes

AI and the end of loneliness | Paul Bloom
AI and the end of loneliness | Paul Bloom Sep 30, 2026 29:29 AI companions may soon cure loneliness, says psychologist Paul Bloom: a gift for the isolated and the elderly, but a danger for the young, who need to experience the hard work of real relationships. So what happens to a generation raised on chatbots that never need an apology or get bored of a story? Bloom pitches a stranger, more hopeful solution, one that lets us lean on AI without ever losing o
How to break down barriers and not accept limits | Candace Parker
How to break down barriers and not accept limits | Candace Parker Sep 29, 2026 13:57 What can't Candace Parker do? A two-time NCAA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time WNBA champion, Parker knows what it takes to fight for your dreams. In this inspiring talk, she shares what she's learned during a career spent not accepting limits -- and how her daughter taught her the best lesson of all. "Barrier breaking is about not staying in your lane and not bei
Why I’m building libraries inside prisons | Reginald Dwayne Betts
Why I’m building libraries inside prisons | Reginald Dwayne Betts Sep 28, 2026 14:55 At age 16, Reginald Dwayne Betts was sentenced to nine years in prison. He turned to books to help hold onto his sanity — and developed a belief that we find what we look for, even in the toughest places. Now a lawyer and poet, he's opened hundreds of Freedom Libraries inside prisons across the US, putting books he once dreamed of reading into the hands of incarcerated people. In this profound
How to break through fear and become a leader | Valerie Montgomery Rice
How to break through fear and become a leader | Valerie Montgomery Rice Sep 27, 2026 17:35 Vigilance. Grit. Resilience. Valerie Montgomery Rice, the president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine, shares where she learned these key qualities of successful leadership, offering three lessons for anyone who wants to overcome their fears, stand up for what’s right and build opportunity for all.(This episode originally aired in 2024.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform
How to escape your obsession with productivity | Rebecca McMackin and Catherine Price
How to escape your obsession with productivity | Rebecca McMackin and Catherine Price Sep 26, 2026 29:51 Why are we so obsessed with productivity? Horticulturist Rebecca McMackin (who wants people to let their lawns grow wild) and author Catherine Price (who wrote a book about the power of fun) come together to discuss the relief of giving up control. From growing milkweed to taking up unproductive hobbies, they dig into the benefits of rest — and why doing something for its own sake shouldn't ne
I thought I was lazy. Turns out I had a sleep disorder | Lindsay Scola
I thought I was lazy. Turns out I had a sleep disorder | Lindsay Scola Sep 25, 2026 11:31 For more than two decades, sleep health educator Lindsay Scola attributed her never-ending exhaustion to long hours and demanding jobs. When she was diagnosed with narcolepsy, she finally got the wake-up call that transformed her life. In this rousing talk, she discusses the epidemic of undiagnosed sleep disorders and encourages you to ask yourself: Is your tiredness different? Hosted on Acast. Se
Inside the "play labs" helping refugee kids heal | Erum Mariam
Inside the "play labs" helping refugee kids heal | Erum Mariam Sep 24, 2026 14:00 What does healing look like for a refugee child? That's the question educational leader Erum Mariam asked when her team built the humanitarian "play labs": small, welcoming spaces where children displaced from their homes can play and reconnect with what they lost. From songs and dances to games and art they remember from home, Mariam shows how making space for kids to play brings ba
Why we blew up four dams — and saved a river | Amy Bowers Cordalis
Why we blew up four dams — and saved a river | Amy Bowers Cordalis Sep 23, 2026 36:53 For thousands of years, the Klamath River in Northern California was home to one of the continent’s great salmon runs, creating abundance for the native Yurok Tribe … until a series of dams and a century of extraction nearly destroyed it. Indigenous advocate Amy Bowers Cordalis helped lead the fight to take down those dams — the largest removal of its kind in US history. She offers a roadmap for c
What makes a good game? | Eric Zimmerman
What makes a good game? | Eric Zimmerman Sep 22, 2026 14:16 What’s the best way to make a project more playful? Game designer Eric Zimmerman has a counterintuitive suggestion: a few good rules. Drawing on his experience making everything from video games and tabletop classics to museum-scale installations, he breaks down how creative play comes to life — and how to harness the power of constraints to create endless fun. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva
How to clean up the world's dirtiest industry | Joojin Kim
How to clean up the world's dirtiest industry | Joojin Kim Sep 21, 2026 13:20 Climate strategist Joojin Kim spent years convincing banks across South Korea to stop funding coal, and it worked. Now he's aiming that same playbook at a new target: maritime shipping, a hidden engine of the global economy — and one of the world's dirtiest industries. He breaks down how the whole system converges in one place and why redirecting finance could transform it into a driver of a clean
The secret to mastering life's biggest transitions | Bruce Feiler
The secret to mastering life's biggest transitions | Bruce Feiler Sep 20, 2026 22:21 How do you navigate life's growing number of transitions with meaning, purpose and skill? Writer Bruce Feiler offers a powerful way to handle uncertain, painful and confusing times -- or "lifequakes", as he calls them. Learn how to equip yourself with the essential tools and mindset to ride out (and rewrite) the toughest chapters of your life story, and turn unease and upheaval into growth and ren
How tech will (and won't) replace your doctor | Zack Abbott and Dhruv Khullar
How tech will (and won't) replace your doctor | Zack Abbott and Dhruv Khullar Sep 19, 2026 29:00 There's more health advice available than ever before — and no easy way to tell what’s worth your time. From biotech breakthroughs to smarter cancer screening, physician Dhruv Khullar and microbiologist Zack Abbott examine what happens when science can change who we are — including the potential of reengineering the human body — and what medicine might look like in 20 years. (This conversation is

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